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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Cooking From Your Garden- Corn Chowder

Corn fresh off the stalk in the summer is so good.

The closer you are to when it is fresh picked then sweeter it is because the sugars start converting to starch after a while. Luckily it can be preserved by freezing or canning if you have a lot to use up.

But what do you do with the corn on the cob you have leftover from last night's dinner that is already cooked?

Corn Chowder

I had never had corn chowder before last year. One day I was pretty sick and my sweet neighbor and her daughter brought me over this Corn Chowder. It was so good. She gave me the recipe but I've made a few alterations.

Brown bacon in pan until crispy. When finished remove bacon to paper towel lined plate to drain. Make sure to leave the bacon drippings in the pan. This is what you will use to saute the onion and garlic in so you don't need to add more oil. And it will give your soup more flavor.

While bacon is cooking chop your onions. When bacon is removed, add onions to pot and saute until translucent. 5-6 minutes Add garlic and saute until fragrant but make sure it doesn't burn.

When onions and garlic are done, add potatoes, seasonings and boiling water to pot. Boil until the potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork but not mushy.

Meanwhile, cut your corn off the cobs. And separate kernels. When potatoes are done, add corn kernels. These are already cooked, so you just need to heat them through.

Pour in can of evaporated milk. Stir. While the chowder is simmering, make a rue with the butter and flour in another pan. Melt the butter and when it is melted, stir in the flour. Continue stirring until the mixture looks like wet sand. This is what is going to thicken your chowder. Scoop it into your chowder and stir to combine. Cook the chowder until it thickens. (I don't have a picture of this step because I used my left over cauliflower mashed potatoes to thicken my chowder)